


Fury's Greatest Secret

by lionessvalenti



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Captain Marvel (2019) Spoilers, Gen, Gen Work, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-09 22:36:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18647491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lionessvalenti/pseuds/lionessvalenti
Summary: Carol tells Natasha how Fury lost his eye. Set during Endgame!





	Fury's Greatest Secret

Avengers headquarters had become a bit of a home base for everyone, and Natasha kept watch there. Its doors were always open to anyone who had finished their mission, or anyone who just needed a break. She had regulars, but Carol Danvers was anything but regular, and not just because Natasha hadn't seen her in person in over two years.

"Want a drink?" Natasha asked, already pouring herself a tumbler of whiskey. It would have been easy to fall into a drunken stupor, but she kept a strict rule of never drinking alone. It kept her head clear.

"Sure," Carol replied.

Natasha poured a second glass and pushed it across the small table. "What brings you by?"

Carol didn't pick up the glass, but she shrugged. "I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop in, say hi. Are you the only one here?"

Natasha didn't let Carol's not drinking stop her. She took a sip and nodded. "Right now, anyway. I mean, me and the cat."

"You got a cat?" Carol asked. She sounded surprised, and maybe with good reason. Natasha knew she wasn't exactly the nurturing type.

"Yeah. Kind of. I sort of inherited the cat, I guess. It's Fury's cat," Natasha replied, and as if hearing herself being referenced, Goose sauntered into the room and walked right up to Carol.

"Goose!" Carol crouched down and stroked the cat's head before scooping her up. "I didn't know you were still alive! It's been a long time, buddy."

"You know Goose?" Natasha tried not to sound surprised. She knew Carol had history with Fury, but that was in the 90s. How long did cats live? She had no idea. She'd never had so much as a goldfish, let alone a cat, until Goose arrived.

"Oh yeah, me and Goose go way back." Carol was stroking beneath the cat's chin, and Goose was purring loudly. "Don't we, Goose?"

Natasha leaned against the back of a nearby chair, glass still in hand. "She just showed up a few months ago. She's a really smart cat. She spent all those years on her own and was fine, and then, honestly, I have no idea how she knew to come _here_."

Carol smiled. "She's not a cat."

"She's not a -- what?"

"It's complicated. More like..." She put the back of her hand in front of Goose's face and wiggled her fingers, mimicking tentacles. "Rowr."

"You're telling me that Fury's cat is actually an alien?" Natasha asked. She took a drink, draining the last of the whiskey from the glass. At this point, she thought nothing should shock her, but for some reason, this did. Maybe because she'd been cleaning out a reasonably normal litter box for four months, fed Goose canned cat food, and even let Goose sleep in her bed.

Carol laughed. "Oh yeah. Big time alien. Did Fury ever tell you what happened to his eye?"

Natasha stood up a little straighter. "No. I mean, he told everyone lots of cryptic things. I think he got a kick out of no one knowing. There were all sorts of rumors floating around SHIELD because what else were we going to gossip about."

"Oh no, now I don't want to reveal his greatest secret."

"Now you _have_ to," Natasha countered. "I won't tell anyone. Maybe Steve. If it's really good, I'll probably tell Steve."

"It's so good," Carol replied. Goose jumped out of her arms, landing with perfect, presumably feline grace, and wandered off. "Maybe it doesn't make a difference now. So, Fury's kind of a cat person, and when Goose joined up on the team, it was a big deal for him. And I guess his baby talk--"

Natasha didn't interrupt, but while she knew Fury had a cat and was a big fan of his cat, as evidenced by the pictures that had been scattered around his office at one point, she had a strange disconnect to the phrase _baby talk_. There was no information in her brain to support the mental image of Fury baby talking anything. It was too ridiculous to even conceive.

"--really got to Goose, so she..." Carol made a claw with her hand and mimed a scratch. "Flerkin scratches aren't like cat scratches. But I guess it's better than eating him."

"You're serious. Fury lost his eye because he annoyed an alien cat?" The question was rhetorical, and Natasha didn't wait for a response before she started laughing. It was a loud, hysterical sound that started in her gut and seemed to force out of her mouth. Then, almost immediately, the laughter turned to tears. A few hard, heavy sobs shook her entire body until she got control over it. She grateful no one else was there. "Shit, sorry."

"It's okay. It gets us all sometimes. But you have to know, Natasha, Goose wouldn't have come to you if she didn't trust you. Fury must have said some really good things about you, or she would have stayed out there on her own."

That didn't help Natasha quell her tears, but she mustered a quiet, "Thanks."

Carol closed in on Natasha and wrapped an arm around her waist. "You're going to tell Steve, aren't you?"

Natasha laughed and hastily wiped the tears from her cheek. "I have to. I can't sit on that one. He'd never forgive me. He told me once that Fury said to him that the last time he trusted someone, he lost an eye."

"Wow, Fury _was_ cryptic."

Natasha rested her head on Carol's shoulder. "Yeah, he really was."


End file.
